Sliding door.



A movement.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL WALTER LETSON, CHARLES GUSTAVE WALDEMAR TALEN, AND- ROBERT vEDWARD LEE REYNOLDS, OF NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA'.

SLIDING D OOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 678,366, dated July 16, 1901.

f Application filed November 12, 1900. Serial No. 36,193. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom t may concern.

Be it known that we, SAMUEL WALTER LET- soN, CHARLES GUsTAvE WALDEMAE TALEN, and ROBERT EDWARD LEE REYNOLDS, citi- Zeus of the United States, residing at New Orleans, in the parish of Orleans and State of Louisiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sliding Doors; and we do declare the following to be a-fulhclear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying draw-V ings, and to the figures of reference marked hereon, which form a partof this specificaion.

This invention relates to sliding doors in general, and ymore particularly to that class used in connection with freight-cars, the object of the invention being to provide a simple and efcient construction wherein the door may be readily opened and closed and may be held securely at dierent points of its adjustment.

In the drawings forming a' portion -of this specification, and in which like numerals of reference indicate similar parts in the/'several views, Figure 1 represents a portion of a freight-car equipped with a door constructed and arranged in accordance with the present invention, the door being locked against Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the positions of the parts when the door is raised or unlocked, a portion of the latchcasingbeing broken away to show the latchpin. Fig. 3 is a plan View of the operatinglever and the rack with which it is engaged. Fig. 4 is a sectional View taken through the latch-casing and showing the latch-pin.

Referring now to the drawings, 5 represents the side of a freight-car having a dooropening therein and which car comprises upper and lower sills 6 and 7 and studs 8. Upon the upper sills 6 is secured a track-rail 9 upon hangers in the usual manner and from which rail lthe door is suspended for sliding movement. I

The door, which is shown at 10, has hang- 'ers 11 and 12 secured thereto, these hangers 5'0 being in the form of hooks which engage over the rail and have rollers 13 and 14, which rest upon the rail to sustain or suspend the door.,

The hooks or hangers are formed integral of a rod 15, Yof metal, which is bent into V shape, .the end portions thereof diverging upwardly. The hooks are formed by bending the end portions of the rod rearwardly and downwardly. The diverging arms or members 16 and 17 of the rod 15 are passed through guideopenings in angle-plates 18 and 19, which are secured to the face of the door and adjacent .the upper edge thereof, while the lower bight portion of the rod is pivoted to a lever 20, which is fulcrumed at its end to the face of the door. In the end portion of the lever 20, opposite to its fulcru xn, there are formed perforations, and with these perforations are engaged the ends of a U-shaped rod 2l, the end of the outermost leg 22 thereof being longer than the innermost leg and being continued through the lever, beyond which it is bent in the direction of the fulcrum of the lever. This laterally-'bent end of the rod takes under an arc-shaped or segmental plate 24, which is mounted upon blocks 25 vto space it from the face of the door. The rod 21 or the bight thereof, which projects forwardly from the lever, forms a handle which may be grasped for manipulation of the lever. The plate 24. has

a perforation 26 therein for engagement of a pin 27 to holdthe lever at one limit of its movement, said pin being suspended from a chain, as shown. A keeper-plate 28 is attached to the sill 7 and projects outwardly therefrom and then upwardly to inclose the lower edge of the door, and engaged with the upturned end of the plate and with the sill is a pin 29, which is adapted for engagement with notcheslBO and 3l in the lower edge of the door. With this construction it will be seen that when the lever is drawn downwardly the rod 15 is drawn upon and the door is raised to lift the notched portions thereof from engagement with the pins, after which the door may be slid laterally. When the door has been moved toy the proper position, the lever may be released, when the door will drop and will receive the pin in the proper notch or will lie with a vertical edge thereof behind the pin and will thus be held against IOO sliding movement, the door being moved to and from its locked position by manipulation of the leveri It will be understood that in practice modifications of the specific construction shown may be made and that any suitable materials and proportions may be used for the Various parts without departing from the spirit of the invention.

A hanger 40 is secured to the upper portion of the door and takes over the track, this hanger being of hook form, the bill and the stem lying at opposite sides of the track to prevent displacement of the wheels from the track. A pin 4l, engaged with the door, lies in the path of movement of the rod and prevents movement thereof to a point suicient to lift the door from the track.

` That is claimed is l. The combination with upper and lower sills, of a track-rail carried by and projecting from the upper sill, a keeper-plate mounted upon the lower sill and projecting forwardly and upwardly therefrom, said plate having a pin engaged therewith and with the lower sill, a door, hangers formed integral and Vmounted slidably upon the door, said hangers having engagement with the rail, a lever pivoted to the door and connected with the hangers for raising and lowering the door, and means for holding the lever against movement, said door having notches in its lower edge to receive the pin of the keeper-plate. 2. The combination with a car having a rail, of a door, a rod bent upon itself to form diverging arms, the ends of the rod being bent into hook shape and engaged over the rail, slidable connections between the rod and the door, a lever fulcrumed to the door and pivoted to the rod, a segmental plate spaced from the door, a rod passed through the lever and having an end bent to engage under the segmental plate to hold the lever in proper relation thereto, means for engagement with the segmental plate to hold the lever against movement, and a latch-pin below the door, said door having notches in its lower edge to receive the pin.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

SAMUEL WALTER LETSON. CHARLES GUSTAVE WALDEMAR TALEN. ROBERT EDWARD LEE REYNOLDS. Witnesses:

JosIAH GRoss, JOHN PIERCE. 

